Those Haunting Words
by Moana Fan Girl
Summary: "It chose wrong." Since helping Moana restore the Heart of Te Fiti, those words have haunted Maui. What happens when those words keep haunting him, to the point where he just can't take it anymore? Rated T just in case.


_"The ocean chose me!" Moana said, sounding like she could cry at any moment but refused to let the tears fall, nor was she going to let herself cry in front of him. Maui turned around to look at her, still upset._

_"It chose wrong." He simply said with no second thoughts, not knowing that those words would stick with him no matter how hard he tried to forget them once their adventure was over._

* * *

Maui sighed as he looked down at his reflection in a river. He'd wanted to tell her he was sorry for what he had said, but couldn't find the courage. Sure Moana had treated him with kindness, but he couldn't bear to look her in the face and tell her he was sorry, knowing that what he had said may have been unforgivable. He didn't mean those words, he was just so angry and upset that they had just spilled out without warning nor consent.

He knew the ocean had chosen right, since Moana never seemed to give up, even when times got difficult. He, on the other hand, had selfishly given up once his hook had reached the point where it would break after one more hit. He made the choice to give up and turn his back on Moana when she needed him most. His hook seemed to be - no, _was_ \- the only thing that mattered to him. Not restoring the Heart, not Moana's safety, just his hook. Part of him wanted to stay, but how much he cared about his hook overcame that part of him that had told him to stay.

He was disgusted with himself as he began to see his old self in his reflection instead of his new self. He glared at the water before deciding out of his own rage to punch his reflection, which seemed to be a possible stress reliever if it weren't for the rocks at the bottom and how shallow the water was. Instead of his stress being relieved, Maui ended up quickly pulling his hand back and using his right hand to hold his left one as he sucked air in through his teeth, his eyes clenched shut from the pain. The water had rippled as his fist had met it and his reflection was nothing but a blur, but his reflection slowly started to appear more clearly as the rippling movement stopped.

Once he opened his eyes, he caught a glimpse of his reflection, which seemed to smirk at him. He glared at it once again. He felt he hated it. Was this what it felt like to hate yourself? He balled his hand into a fist once again as he clenched his teeth, bringing his fist back to punch his reflection, but he suddenly stopped himself. He wasn't the one to make the same stupid mistake twice, was he?

As he lowered his fist and let out a sigh of defeat, he slowly stood up. He narrowed his eyes, looking back down at the river to see his reflection glaring back up at him. He then turned his back on the river, deciding to try to get what was bugging him off his mind.

He quickly changed to his hawk form and flew up into the sky, thinking, _Maybe this'll help._ Unfortunately, it didn't. He was reminded of selfishly leaving Moana alone in the middle of the ocean.

_Aw, come on!_ He thought, quickly flying back down and landing before changing back to his human form, _Can't I just forget about it? Like, get it off my mind...?_ He sighed from annoyance before rolling his eyes. _Besides, what I did is unforgivable... No one in their right minds would forgive me for what I'd said. Besides, I had no excuse to say it._

As he went up to the beach where the ocean was, he sighed before closing his eyes, sort of feeling like he wanted to cry. _Just...forgive me Moana._ He thought, not letting any tears fall, _I know I may not deserve it, even from a good friend like you, but I just want you to know...I'm sorry.__ Please forgive me..._ Tears threatened to fall as he squeezed his eyes shut at the last part, but he was too stubborn to let them, not willing to let even the ocean see him cry.

He was supposed to be strong, he was a demigod! But he couldn't help but feel tons of regret as he kept being reminded about what he told Moana. He then clenched his fists as he thought, _The ocean wasn't wrong... I was wrong. I was the one who selfishly flew away from the fight with Te Kā! I was the one who...hurt her. I deserve...to feel like this__._

As he finished his thoughts, he couldn't hold it in anymore and just fell to his knees, putting his face in his hands as he started to silently cry, letting his tears fall. He didn't care who or what saw him anymore, he was too depressed to care. That was until a decision hit him a few seconds later.

_That's it..._ He thought, narrowing his eyes as he lifted his head up, _I'm no longer going to __cry about my stupid mistakes. I need to apologize, whether she forgives me or not. Like she did about my hook, I will about how I told her the ocean chose wrong._

He then got up suddenly before changing to his hawk form and flying to the new island Moana and her tribe inhabited.

* * *

Once he reached her island, he looked around for her as he flew above it. Once he spotted her, he smiled happily and also out of relief as he swooped down and landed in front of her, almost startling her before she realized who it was.

"Maui?" She asked, looking confused as she tilted her head. Maui then changed to his human form as he smiled at her before unexpectedly hugging her tight.

"I'm so glad you're here!" He cried happily, a little too happy to see her, "I have no idea what I'd do if you weren't!"

"You're...acting differently." She said with a nervous smile, sounding like she was being crushed before he finally let go. After he did, she took a deep breath of air and asked, "Did something happen?"

"No, I'm just happy to see you because I wanted to apologize." He replied, smiling back at her with a smile bigger than hers.

"Apologize?" She asked, tilting her head to the side a bit, "For what?"

"For telling you the ocean chose wrong." Maui replied, "It's been haunting me all day!" Moana smiled softly at him.

"It's okay Maui." She said, "I forgive you. I understand I...should've turned back when you told me to, so I'm sorry too."

They both then hugged, Maui feeling glad that he had finally apologized to her and was forgiven. After they had parted the hug, Maui smiled at her again, changed to his hawk form and then flew off, glad to have his regrets finally off his chest.

* * *

**Okay so I decided to write this since I thought he just**** _had_ to regret saying the ocean chose wrong to Moana sometime after the movie as he remembered it. So I decided to write this little fic. Hope you all enjoyed!**


End file.
